An Unexpected Find In Long Beach

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Maybe it was the fact that I had a 32-hour-long Wednesday the day before, but the pink car behind the Worthouse pit area at Formula Drift Long Beach confused me for a good few moments.

The front was instantly recognisable as that of a JZX100 Toyota Chaser, but what it was attached to, and so seamlessly, was what really caught my attention.

From a distance, the wing did disguise it to a certain degree – it didn’t help that I originally was looking at it almost square on from the front – but once I got closer, it was obvious. But then, it kind of wasn’t again.

See, from the rear it’s what I would instinctively label as a JZX81; but it was left-hand drive which completely threw me off. I’m not 100 percent familiar with the US market and what variations of JDM cars actually ended up stateside, so this was proving a fun challenge. I tried to find the owner, but being busy with other activities, when I finally returned the car was gone and I feared that I wouldn’t see it again.

That was until Saturday morning at AutoCon FD LB, where I was reunited with maybe the best JZX mash-up that I’ve ever come across.

I absolutely adore this thing; the thought of running a JZX100 front on a sort-of JZX81 never even occurred to me before, and I’ve never seen one online either. It’s a brilliant combination.

Thankfully, for you at least, its owner and creator, Richard Rabe, was this time standing beside the car and able to try and un-confuse me. So, it’s not a JZX81, it’s an MX83 Cressida with a JZX100 front. The MX83 and JZX100 are practically identical, although the USDM MX83 didn’t come with a 1JZ, rather a lethargic 7M-GE inline-six.

This wasn’t a problem for Richard, as it seems he had his heart set on something a little bit more powerful to match the looks. The 7M-GE has long since been replaced with a 2JZ-GTE running a single Holset turbocharger.

We see so many cars on our travels as Speedhunters, but it’s always a pleasure when we come across a build that has been so thoroughly put together; where everything works and there’s a particular good flow or vibe about it. A lot of it is, of course, completely subjective.

That certain je ne sais quoi though is often the difference between a good car and a great car. It helps that the JZX100 front is a surprisingly good fit on the older chassis, although it was far from a straight upgrade. I could have easily sat down with Richard all day to talk about this car and really explore the ins and outs of it, but I was under pressure to get back to the track. Still, I should be back in SoCal in October so maybe we should arrange a proper shoot then?

I feel obliged to wrap this spotlight up with a video. Sure, it’s a completely different car in a different country, but a 2JZ JZX81 in the hands of Tezuka is maybe the reason that a car like Richard’s exists in the first place. If you’re familiar with the video, you’ll still watch it again. If you’re not, be prepared for a history lesson.

I knew I remembered this car somewhere, this car a long time ago was in Mighty Car Mods video when they came to LA and did a video on the car scene, in the video its matte black but its definitely the same car, it has the 2J and the painted valve cover at that point but its good to see how far it has come

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